Timeline: Scandal According to Andrew Young

Jan. 29, 2010— -- Andrew Young, a former longtime aide and trusted friend of Sen. John Edwards, sat down for an exclusive interview with ABC News' Bob Woodruff regarding his upcoming memoir, "The Politician, An Insider Account of Edwards' Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal that Brought Him Down."

Young chronicles his time with Edwards, including his efforts to hide the secret that would eventually shock the American public.

Below is a timeline of events in the scandal according to Andrew and Cheri Young:

Nov. 3, 1998: Edwards elected to the U.S. Senate. Soon after, Young starts working as his "body man."

Sept. 15, 2003: Edwards officially announces he is running for President on "The Daily Show with John Stewart."

July 6, 2004: John Kerry picks Edwards as his Vice Presidential candidate.

Nov. 3, 2004: Kerry-Edwards lose 2004 campaign and Edwards learns his wife Elizabeth has breast cancer.

February 2005: Edwards founds and directs the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at University of North Carolina (UNC) law school. Young claims to have raised $3 million to endow the center.

February 2006: During a tour of several cities in support of unionized hotel workers, Edwards arrives in New York City and stays at the Regency Hotel. Edwards meets Rielle Hunter in the lobby of the Regency Hotel. Young claims Hunter told him that she spent the night there with Edwards.

Spring/early Summer 2006: Young meets Hunter for the first time at Dulles International Airport as he was picking up Edwards to take him to meet Bunny Mellon, a wealthy benefactress who unwittingly would play a critical role in the cover up of Edwards' affair. Edwards introduces Hunter to Young as a filmmaker who was going to make brief documentaries, called "webisodes." Hunter's videos would document the real John Edwards and give his voters a backstage pass to his life on the campaign trail.

June 2006: Hunter and partner Mimi Hockman incorporate Midline Groove productions and sign a contract with Edwards' political action committee. Hunter begins traveling with Edwards shooting "webisodes." According to Young, Edwards begins to insist that staff stay on separate floors of hotels.

Summer 2006: Young becomes aware of the affair between Edwards and Hunter.

June 2006: Young gets tickets for Hunter to see the Dave Matthews Band in N.Y. Hunter. According to Young's book, Hunter embarrasses herself and the band by throwing herself at violinist Boyd Tinsley and Matthews.

Summer 2006: The Edwards family moves into their new Chapel Hill mansion. The Youngs begin construction of a new home in Chapel Hill, not far from Edwards's mansion. They hire the same architect and builder.

September 2006: Elizabeth Edwards' book, "Saving Graces," is released. Andrew and Cheri Young are among those Elizabeth thanks in the book.

Sept. 28 - Oct. 5, 2006: Hunter travels to Uganda with Edwards on a trip sponsored by the International Rescue Committee. Young claims Hunter tells him they spent every night together and Edwards told Hunter he loved her. Upon returning home, Edwards's "secret" cell phone, which Young and Edwards called "the bat phone," rings and Elizabeth answers and hears a woman talking amorously to her husband, but does not know who it is. The Edwards, according to Young, fight and Elizabeth insists that her husband call the woman back and end the affair. Elizabeth does not know who was on the phone because for several months after that, Rielle's name is on the daily schedule traveling with the senator, according to Young.

Late 2006: Hunter, who was still the official videographer for Edwards, accompanies him to his Center on Poverty at UNC and then to his home, since Elizabeth was away. Hunter meets Edwards' parents and children and interviews them on camera for a "webisode." At an intimate dinner, Hunter and Edwards, according to Young, "kept on talking about once Elizabeth was gone, this is the way it should be, this is the way it is. This is after several hours of wine -- cuddling together -- just me and the two of them."

Young says Rielle talked about plans for a rooftop wedding in New York. "Their favorite song was called 'Steady as We Go,' by Dave Matthews Band, and that was their song. And according to Edwards, he was gonna get them to come and play at his wedding, after he was President," said Young. Hunter later tells the Youngs that they "they made love in John and Elizabeth's bed."

Dec. 28, 2006: Edwards officially announces his 2008 presidential run New Orleans. Elizabeth does not accompany her husband, but Hunter does and spends the night with him at the Loews Hotel. Hunter tells Young that she felt like Edwards' "First Lady" that night. Hunter also accompanies Edwards on his multi-state announcement tour that culminates in a rally at Southern Village (Chapel Hill) in front of Edwards' Headquarters.

Dec. 30, 2006: Elizabeth comes face to face with Hunter at the rally at Southern Village. Hunter is fired within a day or two of that encounter. Edwards tells Young Elizabeth kept him up all night fighting about Hunter. Young later finds out that Edwards told his wife he had a one night affair with Hunter, who then started to have an affair with Young. "Elizabeth felt my affairs had cost them the election and their reputation," says Young. "She completely forced me out of their lives," he adds.

Young's Scandal Timeline: 2007

March 20, 2007: Edwards rushes home from Iowa because Elizabeth's cancer has returned and has spread to her bones. Hunter is upset with Edwards because it is her birthday and he cancels his birthday celebration.

March 22, 2007. Edwards publicly announces his wife's cancer had returned, but that the campaign will go on.

April 2007:. Young continues to facilitate meetings between Hunter and Edwards.

April 11, 2007: Elizabeth leaves Young an angry voicemail saying she wants every single number he has.

"Andrew, I am tired of playing games with you. I want every single number, every single person ... We will not need you to have them. Every single number. And if that's not clear to you ... and if you dare, you can call John." Young believes Elizabeth was looking for Hunter's contact information.

April, 19 2007: Edwards's campaign suffers embarrassing blow after it is revealed the campaign paid for two $400 haircuts for Edwards from a Beverly Hills stylist. Rachel Mellon, known as Bunny, a 99-year-old heiress to the Mellon fortune, writes Young a letter saying that she would pay for any expenses the senator incurred that could not be covered by the campaign. This leads her to ultimately (and unwittingly) pay for Hunter's expenses.

April 26, 2007: Edwards at a televised Democratic debate is asked to name a person he considers a moral leader. After mentioning Jesus Christ and before naming his father, he says, "My wife, who I think is the finest human being I have ever known, is a source of great conscience for me." Hunter calls Young and says, "My wife is my moral leader? We're all going to hell."

May 2007: Hunter tells Edwards and Young she is pregnant. Young claims Edwards asks him to convince Hunter to have an abortion. Young, on behalf of Edwards, asks several people for financial help, but is refused. In the end they turn to Bunny Mellon. "She would do anything for him ... So, I called her and the Senator called her and she said, 'Absolutely, I will send you whatever money you need for this non-campaign expense, didn't care what it was as long as it was something to help John Edwards," says Young.

July 30, 2007: The Edwardses celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary with a trip to Wendy's. "Good Morning America" and People magazine give extensive coverage. Young says Hunter is outraged.

Sept. 27, 2007: The National Enquirer locates a pregnant Hunter in New Jersey at the home of her friend Mimi Hockman. Young, asked by Edwards to handle the matter, moves Hunter down to North Carolina. That was the first time Cheri Young meets Hunter.

October/November 2007: After two weeks of living with the Youngs, Hunter moves into a home nearby, paid for with Mellon's money. Young purchases Hunter a $28,0000 BMW in his name, signs a year-long lease for $2,900 per month for her rental home and gets her credit cards in false name.

October 2007: The National Enquirer runs an article alleging that Edwards was involved in an extra-marital affair, but does not name Hunter.

Oct. 17, 2007: Ladies Home Journal publishes survey results on happiest married couple among presidential candidates. The Edwardses win the poll.

Dec. 12, 2007: The National Enquirer photographs an obviously pregnant Hunter, shortly after she had visited her OB/GYN. Hunter calls Young in a panic. Edwards calls the Youngs and asks Young to issue a statement, claiming paternity for Hunter's child.

Dec. 19, 2007: The National Enquirer publishes a photo of a pregnant Hunter, alleging she is Edwards' mistress and her baby the product of their affair. Young's attorney, Pam Marple, issues the following statement: "As confirmed by Ms. Hunter, Andrew Young is the father of her unborn child. Senator Edwards knew nothing about the relationship between these former co-workers, which began when they worked together in 2006. As a private citizen who no longer works for the campaign, Mr. Young asks that the media respect his privacy while he works to make amends with his family."

Dec. 19-20, 2007: The Youngs and Hunter leave in the middle of the night using the private plane of Fred Baron, Edwards' campaign finance chairman. They fly to the Westin Hotel in Hollywood, Fla. and then to Baron's Aspen home on Christmas Eve. Hunter changes her name to "Jaya James" because, according to Young, "she thought it sounded like Jesse James. And Jaya -- from what I understand, Jaya stands for freedom in Sanskrit."

Dec. 26, 2007: Edwards leaves Young a voicemail asking him to tell Hunter he called: "Andrew, it's John. It's not quite 9 o'clock. I'm in Nashua, New Hampshire about to get on a plane to go to Iowa ... I've got four CBS reporters on the plane with me so I'm standing out in 18 degree temperatures to call you. And please tell her I said hello and I will call later tonight. Thanks."

December 2007/early January 2008: Elizabeth calls Cheri's cell early in the morning. "She kept pressing and pressing and I said, 'Elizabeth I am hanging up the phone now' ... she said, 'Cheri, if you do that, I'm going to spend every one of my last living days making you pay for this' ... and then she threatened my life, and I hung up the phone, and I, I was just shaking ... at that point, that was in January. She knew ...she knew something," recalls Cheri.

Young's Scandal Timeline: 2008

Jan. 18, 2008: Elizabeth leaves a message on Cheri's cell. "We thought you should know this is not Andrew's first woman."

January 2008: Baron moves the Youngs and Hunter to California. Hunter, according to the Youngs, insists on Santa Barbara because that is where her spiritual advisor Bob McGovern lived.

Jan. 3, 2008: The Youngs and Hunter are now back briefly in Baron's home in Aspen. They watch the Iowa results from Baron's home. Edwards finishes 2nd to Barack Obama, just ahead of Hillary Clinton.

Jan. 26, 2008: Edwards places 3rd in South Carolina primary.

Jan. 30, 2008: Edwards "suspends" his campaign in New Orleans less than a month before his daughter with Hunter is born.

Feb. 17, 2008: Sen. Barack Obama visits the Edwardses at their home in Chapel Hill to seek an endorsement.

Feb. 27, 2008: Frances Quinn Hunter is born via c-section to Hunter, who signs into Cottage Hospital as "Jaya James." Edwards, according to Young, refused to call Hunter before the birth and Young had to push him to do so after his daughter was born.

March 19 - March 21, 2008: Edwards visits Los Angles to do "The Tonight Show" (appears March 20), during which he doesn't rule out running for office again. The night before the "Tonight Show" appearance he visits Hunter and the baby at the Beverly Hilton. It was the first time he saw his daughter. Young has photos of this meeting that he claims Hunter uploaded to his computer. That night, Hunter sends Young a number of text messages – including one at 1:39am telling Young that Edwards is holding the baby and 'burping Quinn."

June 6, 2008: Baron, in response to the Youngs' complaints, moved Hunter out to another home in Santa Barbara. This is the last time the Youngs see Hunter.

June 19, 2008: Young requests a meeting with Edwards, which is granted at the River Inn in Washington, D.C. At the beginning, their meeting was cordial with Edwards telling Young his woes. "Elizabeth screams all the time at me about you ... and I take your side. You don't believe it, but I do. I was asleep out in the barn the other night -- she won't let me sleep in the house -- and was sound asleep, and she comes in and starts screaming at me, like an inch from my face. I am going through hell," writes Young in his book. However, they grow increasingly confrontational and almost get into a fight, but at the end, Edwards, per Young, renews his promise to establish an anti-poverty foundation with funds from Bunny Mellon where Young would be employed.

June 20, 2008: Edwards leads most polls as favorite for Barack Obama's VP; Congressional Black Caucus reports Obama vetting team has Edwards on a short list of three for VP; Baron tells Young Attorney General is sure thing if Edwards not selected for VP.

July 2008: During a trip back to Raleigh, Young claims to find a box of stuff discarded by Hunter, which includes a sex tape and tapes of interviews Hunter did with Edwards' parents and kids at Edwards' home. Young decides he has an important chip and says he made plan to leave copies of the tapes with attorney should anything happen to him.

July 21, 2008: Edwards attends an event with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and then, without the knowledge of the Youngs, goes to the Beverly Hilton to visit Hunter and her baby with the help of Hunter's friend Bob McGovern. The National Enquirer catches him at the Hotel.

July 22, 2008: Edwards calls Young, who says Edwards was "bawling, he was crying ... 'I have been caught! I have been caught!" Young tries to calm Edwards down and then speaks with Baron, who been at the Mayo Clinic for cancer treatment. "Fred believed that Edwards had been doing this and stupidly risking everything. And Fred got very very, very upset," he recalled.

Later, Young claims, Edwards asked Young and Baron to "arrange for a fake paternity test ... and he asked me and Cheri to steal a diaper from the baby so that, that he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if it was indeed his child." Fred, according to Young, refused saying it was "illegal and ridiculous."

July 23, 2008: Elizabeth calls Cheri's cell and leaves her a message saying: "Andrew needs to pay for that baby." Young says Edwards told him that he had told Elizabeth that he was at the hotel to help Hunter because Young wasn't paying child support, and that Hunter and McGovern were blackmailing him.

Elizabeth calls Young's cell and leaves him a message saying: "If you want to be helpful to me you cannot call a bunch of people ... you can call one person and that is the mother of your child and pay what you owe to take care of this baby. This is a completely crazy, desperate, pathetic woman with no skills and no possibility of employment. You are going to have to take care of your baby. If you do that she won't behave in this erratic way. And then, you and your concubine and your entire family can stay out of our lives."

July 29, 2008: Edwards leaves Young a message on his cell. "Andrew, it's John. It's 5:48 North Carolina time. I did just find something out about what's on the cover of the National Enquirer. Call me if you can in the next couple of minutes cause I'm gonna have to put this phone away. Thanks. Bye."

Aug. 1, 2008: Edwards leaves Young a message on this cell. "Andrew, hey it's John. It's 7:27 East Coast Time. I had a long and wonderful conversation with Bunny [Mellon]. She will be there no matter what. She's offered me to come up there and stay if I need to and I may end up doing that some. Anyway, she's a terrific person. God, what a sweetie. Anyway, she's totally there and I think we can completely count on her and I just wanted you to hear that and to once again to tell you I love you ... I really love you Andrew. Thank you."

Aug. 5, 2008: Elizabeth leaves Cheri a message on her cell. "You need to call Russell at the beach and find out why we had the locks changed on the house ... so that Andrew would not use it with his girlfriends. We were told about it by people at the beach. Ask Russell."

Aug. 6, 2008:The National Enquirer publishes a grainy photo of Edwards holding a baby, which Young believes is a fake. Levine, the Enquirer's executive director, tells ABC: "As the saying goes, don't pick a fight with people who like to fight ... Even after we recorded that, John Edwards was calling it 'tabloid trash'" and so they published what they describe as a "spy photo."

Edwards returns to North Carolina and decides, with the support of Elizabeth, to do an interview with ABC News' Bob Woodruff on Nightline. "He wanted to do it the night of the Olympics so that it would get swallowed up in the media coverage and be forgotten," says Young.

Baron ensures Hunter is flown out of the country before Edwards does the ABC News interview.

Aug. 8, 2008: Edwards sits down with ABC News' Bob Woodruff, admits to a short-lived affair with Hunter while his wife's cancer was "in remission," and denies paternity of Hunter's child. That evening, Elizabeth issues a statement of her own saying, "although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him he has his family waiting for him. Admitting one's mistakes is a hard thing for anyone to do, and I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame."

Aug. 9, 2008: The Youngs fly back to North Carolina and move into their unfinished home in Chapel Hill.

Aug. 18, 2008: Young gets an unexpected call from Baron saying, "John needs to see you right now. Elizabeth has taken away his car keys, has taken away his cell phones. He needs to meet you right now, 15 minutes from now."

Edwards meets Young and has him drive behind him "on a country road in the middle of nowhere." When Young finally gets into Edwards' car, Edwards starts questioning him about Bunny Mellon's payments, asking him if he had any knowledge of them. Terrified, Young denies any knowledge. Before he leaves Edwards, Young asks him about his promise to support him and his family, but the only thing Edwards offers is "a good recommendation."

Young then tells Edwards that he had been saving "voicemails, emails, text messages" that corroborate his story and revealed the existence of the sex tape. Edwards looks at him coldly and says, "Andrew, you can't hurt me. You can't hurt me. I've told Elizabeth everything. I've told her the whole truth. You can't hurt me."

Oct. 30, 2008: Fred Baron dies.

Young's Scandal Timeline: 2009

May 2009: Elizabeth Edwards releases her second book, "Resilience," which includes a small section on the affair and, without naming Young, but clearly belittles him and Hunter.

May 2009: A federal grand jury in Raleigh, N.C. begins investigating whether any crimes were committed in connection with campaign lawyers in an effort to conceal Edwards' affair with Hunter. According to Joe Sinsheimer, a Democratic political consultant, the heart of the criminal case is "did John Edwards and Andrew Young orchestrate two political donors to finance Rielle Hunter's lifestyle and -- and perhaps put up as much as a million dollars to move her around the country and try to keep this secret from the national press."

Summer 2009: The Youngs see the Edwardses at a baseball game both their sons were playing in. The families do not speak to or acknowledge each other. Cheri videotapes the game and has video of Edwards coaching first base.

July 1, 2009: Andrew Young testifies for nine hours before a federal grand jury investigating possible misuse of Edwards' campaign funds.

Aug. 6, 2009 Hunter is seen entering the federal courthouse for her testimony before the grand jury. She is carrying her baby in and out of the courthouse.

January 20, 2010: Andrew and Cheri Young sit down with ABC News' Bob Woodruff for their first and exclusive interview that will air on January 29th on "20/20."

January 21, 2010: Edwards releases a bombshell statement admitting paternity of his love child, which he had previously denied in an exclusive interview with Bob Woodruff in August 2008.

"It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me. I have been providing financial support for Quinn and have reached an agreement with her mother to continue providing support in the future," said Edwards in his statement.

Statement from Edwards' Attorneys Wade M. Smith, James P. Cooney III:

"While we have not had an opportunity to view the interview or read the book, we urge extreme caution by everyone involved. From media reports, it is obvious that there are many allegations which are simply false. It appears that Andrew Young is primarily motivated by financial gain and media attention."

Statement from Elizabeth Edwards:

From a spokesperson for Elizabeth Edwards: "Elizabeth is moving on with her life and wants to put this difficult chapter behind her. It was an excruciatingly painful period for her and she no interest in rehashing the past. Based on the limited portions of the book that have been made available, it is clear it contains many falsehoods and exaggerations. She will not engage in a dialogue on each of the false charges, but would like to set the record straight on two key points. First, the allegation that she sought to politicize her cancer is unconscionable, hurtful and patently false. Second, she believed Andrew Young to be the father of this child until her husband confessed his paternity to her this past summer. She will have nothing further to say."

Statement from Lisa Blue Baron, Fred Baron:

Abbe Lowell, who has been a friend of Fred Baron's and Lisa Blue's for 25 years and has also served as Fred Baron's attorney in the past stated:

"Fred, on his own and without discussing it with anyone else, provided financial help to Andrew Young and Rielle Hunter when they were being besieged by the media to try to help them protect their and their families' privacy. In addition, Mr. Young and Ms. Hunter both asked him for additional help. Over the course of his life, he had done the same for countless other people. It would be awful if anyone who was a willing beneficiary of Fred's generosity and friendship was now so ungrateful that he or she tried to mischaracterize what happened, blame Fred for their decisions, and especially try to put words in Fred's mouth now that he has passed on and cannot speak for himself."